Raising Their Family, Respected Nationwide

July 16, 2015

Amy & Lex Vaughn • Montgomery, AL

The morning of Friday, June 26, Lex was at work at her job with the Southern Poverty Law Center. The day was starting out like any other, until she heard a coworker across the room say something excitedly: “Gay marriage is legal!"

The ruling from the United States Supreme Court had come down just minutes before, and she dropped everything to call her wife, Amy and tell her the huge news – that their marriage was respected everywhere in the nation, including their home state of Alabama.

“Minutes later, my father, who is 80 years old, called me and left several voicemails telling me the news,” Amy laughed. “We all celebrated that evening!”

Amy and Lex met in 2008 at Pensacola Pride, and the rest was history – they were friends for several years, and then, in 2011, they realized there was something more between them, and began dating. Five years after meeting, Lex proposed to Amy at Atlanta Pride in Piedmont Park.

“We had a year-long engagement, planning our dream wedding with our friends and family,” Lex said. Their wedding preparation was a lot more public than some couples’ – Amy and Lex were featured on TLC’s reality TV show Say Yes to the Dress. The show follows brides as they decide on their wedding dresses, and Amy and Lex both had to make that decision! “We both said yes to two dresses,” Lex said.

Their wedding ceremony, held in their hometown of Montgomery in 2013, was beautiful. “We went on a wonderful honeymoon to the Dominican Republic,” Lex remembered. “In January of 2014, we made our marriage legal in New York City, and after that, we began planning to have a family.”

Now, Lex and Amy are getting ready for just that – they are expecting their first child this month. “We are very excited and can’t wait to meet him!” Lex said. They plan to have more children in the future, with Lex carrying the next baby.

With their marriage finally respected, once and for all, in the state they love, the couple feels ready for the next stage in their life.

“It feels amazing to know that I am going to be on my child’s birth certificate and that I have the same rights as any expectant parent,” Lex said. “It also feels great to have the same rights as any other married couple. The Supreme Court ruling came at the right time.”

Freedom to Marry was the campaign to win marriage nationwide. With the Supreme Court victory on June 26, 2015, the work of this strategic campaign – though not the larger movement – was achieved, and Freedom to Marry wound down its operations, closing in early 2016. For inquiries, please email legacy@freedomtomarry.org.